Don't know if we've ever done this. I'd like to take a moment to thank all of our veteran members for their service. If you would take a moment to "stand up" and be recognized, give us your branch, dates of service, whatever you feel like sharing. I'd be particularly interested to know if there are any here who served in Military Railroad jobs or units.

I'll start: US Army and Army Reserved, Retired, 1979-2003, Operation Desert Storm, 9/11 Duty in New York.

Jeff Smith wrote:I'll start: US Army and Army Reserved, Retired, 1979-2003, Operation Desert Storm, 9/11 Duty in New York.

You are one lucky SOB to have avoided being stop lossed for overseas ... I have a lot of respect for the Operation Noble Eagle folks like you. No one knew what the hell was going to happen in those days and some those guard details lasted for months if not years.

One thing about being a truck driver in a support unit, was getting to load the vehicles down at the railhead for training purposes. There's nothing like watching folks guide a tank along a string of TTX flats in a blizzard in the Rockies in January.

CaseyLiving near right-of-ways since 1989. Old haunts include: childhood sightings of 669 being the last to "de-rust" the Berlin branch, late 90's summers trackside at the Wagon Wheel of Biddeford, ME, White River Junction, VT, Oneonta, NY, Colorado Springs, CO, and Santa Barbara, CA.

Jeff Smith wrote:I'll start: US Army and Army Reserved, Retired, 1979-2003, Operation Desert Storm, 9/11 Duty in New York.

You are one lucky SOB to have avoided being stop lossed for overseas ... I have a lot of respect for the Operation Noble Eagle folks like you. No one knew what the hell was going to happen in those days and some those guard details lasted for months if not years.

Thanks for your service.

They exempted me from stop-loss for TIG/TIS limits, and medical. I wanted very badly to transfer to my old CT USAR unit and deploy, but my last unit wouldn't allow it because frankly they were a bunch of a-holes. I'll tell you more someday. So they let me retire.

As for 9/11, I was on AT purely by coincidence on Long Island. It was very surreal. I grew up in the Bronx and Westchester. You never imagine you'll end up driving in a Humvee on the Cross Island Parkway trying to get into the city hanging out the windows with a sidearm and 16. That's where I grew up. Combat is supposed to be OVERSEAS.